


Held in The Stars

by Cokecaine



Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship/Love, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-09-26 00:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9854843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cokecaine/pseuds/Cokecaine
Summary: Erika grows up to be decidedly passive, and believes no matter how much effort she puts into what's meant to be, the irony of fate won't just take a turn for the better as she pleases. Until an uncomplicated enigma named Uchiha Itachi contributes to her life, for real this time. Where has she been after all these years to only notice him just now? Because she might have to go back to her native comfort zone here and now.





	1. The Target

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it would become a different story. Oh, I'd include my OC to the series as well.

The last person Erika wished to meet was none other than Hyuuga Hanabi, the clan leader's youngest daughter. Be that as it may, stopping by the Hyuuga residence wasn't a very wise decision to begin with, which Erika made sure she would consider it carefully next time. If truth be told, she didn't hold a certain grudge against Hanabi, nor the main family. She only came for a long-lasting visit because the kotatsu table at her home was broken, and she had the intention to borrow Hiashi's kotatsu since he owned two or three of them, moreover they were all custom-made and Erika liked either of them best. Besides, all the kotatsu tables were unoccupied there, seeing that Hiashi was engrossed in training with his eldest daughter, Hinata.

It was unusually freezing today, that's why Erika insisted on playing hide-and-seek instead of playing ninja at Hanabi's request. Hanabi had asked Natsu, the lady's maid of the Hyuuga residence to tag along with her and Erika. However, Natsu was too busy preparing dinner and couldn't play with them. That being so, Hanabi once again floated an idea to play ninja alternatively, but Erika still persisted in playing hide-and-seek because she couldn't wait for hiding under the kotatsu and falling asleep after a while.

"Found ya, Erika no Nee-san! You're the 'it' now!" Hanabi slightly lifted up the heavy blanket underneath the table surface. It took her less than Erika's estimation to ultimately find her hiding place, she didn't even have the time to doze off until Hanabi came and declared the new 'it'.

"That's incredible, Hanabi-sama!" Erika praised the younger girl, "But how did you find out?"

"I dunno, maybe because it's your favorite place?" Hanabi shrugged her little shoulders, "This is boring if we just play it with the two of us, Onee-san. Let's play something else!"

"Okay," the older girl nodded, "What do you wanna play?"

_Please not playing ninja again. I'm a ninja already and I regret ever becoming one._

"Playing ninja, of course!" Hanabi exclaimed cheerfully, causing Erika to bring close her palm to her face. Noticing Erika's unenthusiastic reaction, Hanabi couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you a ninja, Onee-san?"

"Uh-huh."

"But you don't look like one," the brunette opined without mincing her words. Erika opened out her hazel eyes in surprise, making Hanabi correct her statement that very minute. "Um, I mean, you spend most of your time in my house a lot. I'm just curious why you aren't as busy as Kou is, he's off on a mission a lot, and he's also a ninja, isn't he?"

To tell you the truth, Erika had gotten used to hearing those words that were supposed to be hurtful, which expressed that she didn't look like _one_. Many stated that she didn't look like a stereotypical Hyuuga, thanks to the auburn hair and hazel eyes she took after her mother, who wasn't from the Hyuuga clan. And now a 2-year-old girl had repeated the same popular opinion everyone had been giving, the only difference was she was questioning her duty as a ninja.

"Yes, he is," Erika answered, "But not everyone receives as many missions as Kou-sama does routinely."

"Does it mean you're less skilled than Kou?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't fought against him before so I can't tell." She crossed her arms over her chest loosely before she added, "Don't underestimate my capability that much, Hanabi-sama. I did quite okay back in my Academy days to be able to graduate earlier than most students my age."

"Really? How old were you when you graduated from the Academy?"

"Hmm, I was nine if I'm not mistaken."

"You're not even so sure about it, Onee-san, who knows Kou turned out to graduate earlier than you did?" Hanabi giggled. "And I don't see graduating early makes you a good ninja either!"

"The earlier you graduate from the Academy, the faster you become a real ninja."

"So Hinata-nee-sama isn't a ninja yet?!"

"Not yet, but maybe soon," Erika flashed a smile. For all that, she couldn't guarantee anything. It all depended on Hinata herself whether she was capable of taking the exams sooner or not, but the rumor had it that Hiashi wasn't satisfied enough with the result of the daily training he had been pressing on his daughter. And Erika would only be lying if she said it didn't worry her in the slightest, because in actual fact, it did.

"How do you think I can graduate ahead of time like you?"

"By entering the Academy first?"

"I know, but I can't right now! I asked Otou-sama to enroll me in the same class as Hinata-nee-sama, but he said I was too young and still had long way to go!"

"Of course, you're only two years old, Hanabi-sama, you need to be at least six years old to join the Academy."

"No! I don't have the patience to wait that long! Let's practice harder than Hinata-nee-sama, Onee-san! I'll make Otou-sama think twice about holding me down."

Erika wasn't one hundred percent certain of why she had to struggle along with Hanabi. Perhaps because Hanabi seemed to be slightly lonely ever since her elder sister had to train very hard to meet Hiashi's expectation despite her fairly young age. And Erika tried to understand Hanabi's circumstances by keeping her company most of the time and not taking her words to heart there and then, because kids her age were all brutally honest and didn't consider every word carefully before they opened their mouth.

On the bright side, being brought into the branch family wasn't as bad as Erika had thought. She admitted that she was still envious of those who were born into the main family, and deep down; she still wished to become one of them, but not the daughter of the head of the clan. She had two reasons; the first reason was not to be siblings with Hanabi. Just Hanabi. Hinata seemed like she had always been a good kid, but Hanabi was intolerable. The longer Erika had been one of Hanabi's caretakers and Hanabi's only playmate, the more she couldn't tolerate Hanabi's mischievousness. The last but not the least reason was not to have to deal with the clan's responsibility that Erika absolutely knew nothing about.

"But Hanabi-sama, a ninja sometimes has to hide from the enemy's sight. And I think this hide-and-seek game is the perfect example to learn the basic from." Erika came out with an earthly reason.

Even so, Hanabi wasn't convinced by it. "Don't be a coward, Onee-san! Show your face and kick their asses without being sorry about it!"

"You can't do that! It's pretty much the same as asking for trouble!" Erika sighed in defeat. She had to give in, otherwise the war of words wouldn't come to an end and she didn't wish to prolong it. "Let's play real ninja outside, if it's really what you want. But be careful! Don't get yourself into trouble because I'll have to take responsibility for—"

"Who says we're playing ninja?" Hanabi cut her off, "You're going to train me to become a ninja, Erika no Nee-san. Let's go!"

"Hey! Don't go out without putting on your outerwear! Remember, I can't ever train you again if I'm murdered by your father the next morning."

"I can still ask Kou or Neji-nii-san to train me!" Hanabi stuck out her tongue jokingly, "Come on, Onee-san! I don't wanna skip dinner because of you."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Asked Erika as she walked behind Hanabi. She did wonder every so often how tiny feet of Hanabi's could take wider steps than her own feet were able to without half trying. And because Hanabi didn't forget to bring her gloves around, she refused to go hand in hand with Erika and started assuming that she had become dependable enough not to be tripped over her own feet while walking, which she couldn't show beyond doubt. Much to Erika's dismay, Hanabi had stumbled on herself twice or more, and if the layer of snow under their feet wasn't thick enough, Hanabi would've cried endlessly and left Erika in the wrong.

"You'll see," Hanabi smiled smugly, trying to make herself appear somewhat mysterious. Erika had lost her track once or twice when she attempted to take a shortcut to home; hence her brain was quite familiar with the region of Konoha edge and back. She wasn't completely sure about where Hanabi was willing to lead her to, but the route they had been taking so far headed off to Naka River, if her memory served her correctly. _But why the Naka River of all places?_

"I don't mean to damper on the fun, but just so you know, Hanabi-sama, the river has become frozen. I don't think we can go fishing with that."

"Nobody's going to go fishing, Onee-san!" Hanabi stated on further, "I'm going to learn how to walk on water, and you're going to teach me that!"

Erika had almost lost her mind. Pulling her a little bit forward, and she would be completely mad as a hatter. She let out a sigh to calm herself down, and watched the white mist escape her mouth. _Is she testing my patience?_ She thought to herself while looking up at the sky hopelessly. The sky was overcast all day, so she didn't really become aware of the time. The time ticked by quicker than she anticipated, and she was thankful of it. The gray clouds had been obscuring the sun throughout the day, unknowingly; the night had all but fallen.

"It's late already, let's head back home," Erika suggested. Who would have thought the evening sky would give her inspiration to distract Hanabi?

"You can't lie to me, it's always been cloudy all day long."

"Ah, you're right. But Hanabi-sama, have you taken a bath this morning?"

"Nope. I did pretty well in escaping from Natsu's chase!" Hanabi boasted, "Besides, the water felt really cold this morning. I think I might have shivered myself to die if I took a dip into the water!"

"Wow, very impressive, Hanabi-sama! What's your secret not to be able to smell your own body odor?" The older girl looked daggers at the brunette, "I'm going to bath you, and you can't run away from me. Oh, to your advantage, you can learn how to float on the water at the same time I get you clean in the bathtub."

"Forget about bath, we're here already!" Hanabi ran off as fast as her legs could carry her, "Try to catch me!"

"You rascal! Don't go off too far!" Erika chased after her.

"Look, Nee-san! I'm a ninja now. I can walk on the water!" At first, Hanabi watched her step, because she had surprisingly been aware of how slippery the ice could be. After her feet had gotten used to the ground where they stood, she started to accelerate her pace gradually.

"Don't speed up! The ice is rather slippery. You haven't grasped the basic of chakra control yet," warned Erika.

"This is easy as—"

What Erika feared the most had come true, Hanabi lost her balance and fell down. All of a sudden, the only things her ears could perceive were her own heartbeat, and Hanabi's cry echoing nonstop like a broken tape recorder. She didn't have the time to feel panicked and rushed off to Hanabi immediately. "You okay?" She squeezed the younger girl's shoulders gently, with Hanabi's head still facing downward.

"I'm… not," Hanabi answered timidly, her stare directed at her knee. There was an open cut on it, not looking very serious, yet fairly noticeable. And the blood was still oozing out from the wound. Much to Erika's surprise, Hanabi didn't cry. No, she was actually holding her tears back.

Once again, Erika sighed, "I told you so…" She brought her hand closer to Hanabi's injured knee, and released a friendly green chakra from her hand, performing the Mystical Palm Technique.

The younger girl who had been biting her lower lip while restraining herself from crying began to slightly open her mouth in awe. She had at least witnessed Erika applying this kind of healing method she didn't have a clue about on occasion when her sister came home with bruises all over her body after she trained so hard and diligently with their father. The wound wasn't as hurt as it was before. It seemed like Erika's hand had magically taken away the pain and stopped the bleeding. As time went by, Hanabi could see her wound healed up, leaving no scratch behind.

"Better?" Erika asked.

"Yeah!" Hanabi bowed her head with joy.

"We're certainly going home this time," insisted the older girl. "Can you walk on your own?"

"Of course!"

If Erika were to be completely honest with herself, she was secretly glad that Hanabi was far from being spoiled despite her status as the youngest daughter of the clan leader. Hanabi was actually a very dependent child, but at times, Erika had to admit that Hanabi could be as stubborn as a mule. Having said that, it didn't matter much to Erika now, she had regarded Hanabi as her own kid sister. Though her devotion to Hiashi's family was sort of forced at first, because she felt relatively indebted to his family, and being Hanabi's babysitter was the very least thing she could offer. However, it was almost extremely different now. Erika no longer looked after Hanabi because of her past gratitude, but because she felt that she was the only one who could relate to her. Hanabi had never met her mother ever since she was born, even though in Erika's case wasn't totally similar. Her mother had been there in her life for a really short time, she could barely remember anything about her, yet in her heart of hearts, she still believed her mother was still alive somewhere.

"Onee-san!" Hanabi suddenly grabbed Erika's hand, "The ice! It's cracking!"

Erika glanced down to see the ice under their feet had almost broken into separate parts. That being so, she tried not to start panicking so that Hanabi wouldn't be more frightened than she already had. "Hanabi-sama, get on my back!"

"We'll fall!"

"We won't," Erika assured, "Trust me."

Either Hanabi was persuaded or left with no option but to do as Erika said, Hanabi wrapped her arms around Erika's neck and let the older girl lift her weight up. As Erika was carrying Hanabi on her back, she stepped on the thin ice carefully and as slowly as possible. She had tried to leap over the ground, but Hanabi wouldn't stop screaming at her to keep the pace down, afraid of making cracks on the ice more.

"Onee-san, I still wanna take a warm bath… Not in this cold water," Hanabi sadly said.

"Despite that you've nearly made me turn deaf with your shouting voice, I'm still glad to hear you finally want to take a bath."

"Don't tell me this is your idea all along so that I'm willing to have a bath without reluctance!"

"You're the one who insisted on going to Naka River, Hanabi-sama. Don't randomly pin the blame on me!" Erika turned ahead; a smile spread over her lips just when she noticed the riverbank was just around the corner. "Look! We're almost there."

Erika unintentionally took a false step and made the cracks become wider and visible, causing Hanabi to yell, "Don't walk further! Or else, we'll fall deep into the icy water!"

"Trust me, we won't," Erika convinced, "It's getting darker, we gotta come home as soon as possible before your father notices we've been missing the whole time. If you're scared, you can always shut your eyes and hold on tight because I'm seriously going to jump."

"That's a brilliant idea, Onee-san! If Otou-sama notices that, he will definitely come to our rescue."

"He's more likely to murder me for taking you out without permission…" Erika continued, "About what has happened just now, can you keep it—"

Before Erika could finish her sentence, the thin ice under her feet slightly went down, and she could feel the freezing water seeping into her boots. Spontaneously, Erika jerked forward and almost let Hanabi slip from her shoulders. Hanabi's safety was her highest priority, and she would risk her life in order to keep Hanabi from harm. Even though the only threat she was facing right here and now was the ice-covered Naka River. Still, Erika wouldn't be able to say a word if Hiashi demanded an explanation for Hanabi's drenched clothes. On the condition that Erika carelessly let Hanabi drown in the freezing river, which Erika would avoid at all costs.

As far as Erika knew, both her and Hanabi were the only ones in the vicinity, therefore she was taken by surprise when someone suddenly seized her wrist and pulled her and Hanabi forward to the riverbank. As her feet treaded on the riverside, she came face to face with a mysterious boy whose height was around her. He was wearing a black hooded cloak, and his face was covered with a weasel-styled mask to boot.

"Are you the one who saved us?" Hanabi inquired. Since when had Hanabi been standing next to her? As far Erika could remember, she hadn't put Hanabi down from her back.

Instinctively, Erika moved ahead of Hanabi and stood in front of her, causing Hanabi to be taken aback, "What was that for, Onee-san?"

"What do you want?" Said Erika straightforwardly, "You're not here as a random passerby, aren't you?"

"That's not very nice, Onee—"

"I'm sorry, but don't intervene, Hanabi-sama," Erika changed her tone, "We still don't know what his motive is."

"I don't want anything from you, Erika-san," the masked boy answered. "I'm just carrying out the task I'm assigned to."

"H-how do you know my name? Who's your boss?" She stuttered, "Who exactly is your target?"

" _You_. But I'm not sure whether to address you as my target or not," he explained further. "It seems that you've misunderstood it, Erika-san. For your information, the ANBU commander has entrusted me with a task to watch over you, and I believe saving you from danger is a part of the job as well."

"The ANBU commander… you mean my father? What kind of father commanded his subordinate to stalk his own daughter?" She plastered an obvious look of annoyance on her face, knitting her brows. "I asked you how you even knew my name and the fact that you just ignored my question on purpose makes you even creepier than the first impression you left on me."

"My apologies, but I suppose an ANBU member isn't allowed to reveal his identity while on a mission, so I have to send my regrets, Erika-san," he excused, "Aside from the mission itself, I assure you that we may not be too familiar with each other, but we're more or less acquainted with one another, to say the least."

"You probably know me, and I know you in return, too, is that what you're trying to say?" Erika sneered, "I'm sorry, but if what you said were indeed true, you wouldn't speak to me so formally like that, I don't recall anyone calling me 'Erika-san' before."

The mysterious boy noticeably breathed a sigh. Erika wouldn't have thought the mist could even leak out of his mask. "I'm only doing this not as one of your father's men but your former classmate."

With that, he took off his mask, revealing his bare identity; supposing that he might have to face the consequences sooner or later. Erika had lost count of how many times she had been staggered, and she genuinely hate that she couldn't hide it well.

"Uchiha…" She had never been good with memorizing given names, yet many mistook her for being mannerly, which totally wasn't her style. _What's his name again?_ She caught glimpse of the weasel-styled mask he was holding. "Itachi?"

Hanabi threw a glance at both Erika and Itachi, who seemed to be having a friendly reunion at random after debating for quite some time now. She had been glancing confusedly at the two back and forth, and her gaze eventually stopped at Erika. "Onee-san! Did you forget about the warm bath you promised?" Reminded her, "More importantly, did you forget that I'm still here?!"


	2. The Broken Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itachi makes light of his first ANBU mission and keeps breaking rules after another.

Erika usually went home later than she was supposed to. Her father, Hyūga Kiyoshi, had imposed an inconsequential curfew on her since she was much younger, which required her to be at home before 9 in the evening. It was 11 p.m. now, and Erika didn’t feel concerned in the slightest about it. She was certain somehow that Kiyoshi hadn’t been home and wouldn’t be at home until the day after tomorrow perhaps, seeing that his occupation as an ANBU commander demanded him to be unavailable most of the time. 

Much to Erika’s surprise, her father had come home earlier than she expected him to. Kiyoshi seemed to have been aware of Erika’s absence from their residence as he arrived home; he was presently waiting for his daughter’s explanation in the living room. His arms were crossed over his chest, a welcoming smile didn’t greet her but a glare did. As much as Erika wanted to avoid having words with her father this late, she was left with no option but to face him.

“Oh, you’re home early,” she began, trying her best not to make Kiyoshi’s blood boil.

“And you’re home late.” Countered Kiyoshi, still fixating his intimidating eyes on his daughter. “Are you aware of how late it is now, Erika?”

“Yes, I’m fully aware of it,” she acknowledged, “But as long as I come home in one piece, does the professed curfew you imposed on me cut any ice?”

“Rules are rules, missy,” reminded him sternly, “Rules are created to be obeyed and the purpose of rules is none other than to keep you from harm.”

Erika rolled her eyes wearily, “I believe I’m older and _capable_ enough of defending myself.” She passed by her father and paid no heed to his presence anymore, until a mental note halted her steps, “Oh, one more thing.” She turned around and continued, “I assure you I’m carrying out my duty as a member of the branch family, and therefore you don’t have to assign a minor to watch over me and report it back to you.” 

Her last rejoinder caught Kiyoshi by surprise, but his facial muscles didn’t betray him, he remained unfazed. _How did she find out? Did Itachi fail his mission?_

As though Erika could read her father’s mind, she added, “If I didn’t have the Byakugan, I wouldn’t have realized it, though.”

She could lie to anyone but her only parent. Despite Kiyoshi’s continual lack of presence at home, he had known her for so many years. He was still the one who raised her after all. And if he were to blame anyone for whom Erika had grown up to be, he wouldn’t put the blame on anyone but himself.

If truth be told, his origin intention of commanding Itachi to keep track of Erika was to protect her. He was in no doubt that Erika would do her job thoroughly as a branch member of the Hyūga clan to dedicate even her life to the main family.

As a father with a competent authority, he just prevented the worst-case scenario from happening.

* * *

The next day, Kiyoshi asked Itachi to meet in his office. Itachi had been speculating about what his commander had in mind, if it wasn’t referring to Erika and how he had been caught (or how he foolishly took off his mask by reason of guilty conscience), he had no idea what it was about. 

As he arrived at the commander’s office, Kiyoshi was half seated on his desk, whereas the chair behind the desk was unoccupied. Itachi wasn’t sure whether he had made a crucial mistake to the point Kiyoshi seemed to be prepared for reprimanding him like there was no tomorrow or the ANBU commander simply preferred to sit on his desk than on the chair.

Itachi courteously bowed his head to his commander just to ease up the tension, causing Kiyoshi to raise his eyebrows confusedly, “No need to become so tensed up.” He coughed before he went on, “Have you met Erika before you enlisted in ANBU, Itachi?” 

“Yes, sir,” Itachi admitted. “We were classmates for a short time.” 

“Is that so? Isn’t my daughter 2 years older from you, Itachi?” Kiyoshi suddenly took an interest in Itachi – no wonder his competence allowed him to join the ANBU at such a young age, the boy was indeed brilliant. “How old were you when you graduated from the Academy?” 

“I believe that,” the boy that Kiyoshi unexpectedly had a high opinion of regardless of his young age nodded modestly. “I was 7 when I completed the Academy.” 

 _That quite makes sense now._ Kiyoshi thought to himself. Erika was 9 years old when she passed her Genin exams as well. And Itachi just revealed that they were in the same class before. 

At first, Kiyoshi was the one who expressed disapproval of a minor joining up with the ANBU. It wasn’t like he underestimated Itachi’s capability—no, the boy had shown him beyond doubt that he was undeniably qualified for the position by passing the entrance exam with flying colors. Kiyoshi was just of opinion that Konoha and the other 4 great nations had managed to maintain their harmonious relationships, and the Leaf no longer needed to involve the younger generation to do the dirty work. What was Fugaku thinking when he signed his eldest son up for the ANBU?

“Do you know why I summoned you to my office, Itachi?”

“Yes, sir,” the boy answered, “My apologies, I won’t make such a mistake again.”

“I can understand that,” a fatherly smile spread out Kiyoshi’s lips, “But make sure to set your task as an ANBU and your personal life apart next time.”

“I will,” Itachi lowered his head, “Once again, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

* * *

Itachi didn’t have the faintest idea whether he had gotten better at hiding himself away or Erika had been letting her guard down recently. For certain, he committed to himself that he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice—seeing that his commander’s caution had been some kind of slap in the face, which he preferred not to recall.

The more he thought of it, Kiyoshi wouldn’t have discovered that he circumstantially failed his first mission, had Erika not informed him. If he were to put himself in Erika’s shoes, he wouldn’t be very welcome to come across someone invading his privacy. Especially when that someone was none other than an _acquaintance_. However, Itachi was left with no option but to conduct the inappropriately named ‘mission’ his commander had entrusted him with. To be quite honest, he also had been wondering why his father, Fugaku, felt inclined in enlisting him in ANBU so desperately. In the beginning, he thought he would end up as a member of the military police force like his father. Seemingly, Fugaku had already had something up his sleeve.

It took Itachi less than two weeks to learn Erika’s daily schedule by heart. In his humble opinion, her everyday to-do list was unpredictably monotonous—she visited the Hyūga’s main residence almost every day. When she did not, she would customarily carry out C-rank or lower rank missions independently. But he had no right to say so since his day-to-day hustle and bustle was more unvaried, compared to hers.

This very day was surprisingly an exception. The commander’s only daughter had brought Itachi to a forest, which was the boundary between Konohagakure and Kusagakure. Erika didn’t look like she was on a mission; she came across like she was actually waiting for someone. But why the woods of all places?

What made Itachi so sure that Erika was expecting someone? Just when she got in the middle of the forest, she suspiciously whistled for the mockingbirds that were perching on the branches, and the crowds of mockingbirds echoed her signal before long.

She waited and waited, but nobody showed up. The second time she tried to give another sign, _someone_ eventually came.

Itachi had to activate his Sharingan to identify the distrustful woman Erika was meeting up with. Her features somehow looked familiar to him, like he had seen her somewhere before. Yet he wasn’t one hundred percent positive. _Where is it?_ His crimson orbs opened out as he came to a sudden realization. No wonder he felt like her face was rather familiar—her face was printed in the Bingo Book! Her name was Senju Sakuya, an ANBU medic turned missing-nin. _What is her ulterior motive?_

“Erika…” Sakuya called. Before she got even closer to Erika, Itachi jumped out of his hiding place and stood between the two without a second thought.

“Uchiha!” Exclaimed Erika in surprise, “What are you doing here? Why are you still following me?”

“I shall ask you the same, Erika-san,” Itachi answered, “What are you doing in the middle of the woods on your own?”

“Is he a friend of yours, Erika?” The missing-nin whom Itachi intended to keep Erika away from remained calm and flashed a genuine smile at him.

At this close distance, Itachi had just realized that Sakuya bear a strong resemblance to Erika, making him question whether they were related by blood or not. Except that Erika gave the impression of being more ungenerous when it came to putting on a smile. Still he had not relaxed his vigilance. The glaring, red-blood eyes flickered under the weasel-styled mask; even so the auburn-haired woman didn’t budge an inch.

“You neither deny that nor acknowledge him,” assumed the former ANBU. “But since you two have at the very least memorized each other’s names, I’ll take that as a ‘yes, you’re indeed friends’.”

“Keep your nose out of my business, Uchiha!” Warned Erika, “Or else, I’ll tell my father that you broke the general rule of ANBU last time.”

“I never taught you to threaten your friends, Erika.”

“But Okaa-san!”

Okaa-san, she said. What a surprise. What a _surprising_ plot twist. The woman who stood only a meter away from him could have been his superior if she hadn’t become disloyal to the village. Even though her strong resemblance to Erika had given him every indication that there might be a blood tie between the two ladies—how incautious of him to disregard that. Not to mention that Sakuya was also Kiyoshi’s wife, _his_ commander’s wife. 

Behind his mask, Itachi wore a perplexed expression. For all that he initially found his mask perturbing, and had gotten used to putting it on at long last, he had to thank his weasel-styled mask because it had saved him from similar circumstances like this.

“You haven’t informed him about me, have you?” Erika’s mother sighed, “Do you feel ashamed of me, by any chance?”

“No, of course not!” Erika denied, “I – I didn’t know he was coming along.”

“I see,” Sakuya smiled wryly, “No wonder you haven’t told me you’re bringing a friend along.”

“Actually, he’s Otou-san’s subordinate.” 

“Really?” Sakuya turned to Itachi as she stared in awe, “How old are you? To be in the village’s assassination and tactical squad of repute at a very young age.”

“Otou-san ordered him to make sure I carry out my responsibility as a branch house member.”

“He did?”

Erika nodded confidently.

“I think you misunderstood how your father showed his affection,” Commented her mother. “Instead of making sure you actually do your duty, I think he charged him with protecting you, Erika.”

“How did you know? How can you be certain of it? Did you ask him personally?”

“I just knew because,” Sakuya broke into a smile as she paused, “I’m a parent, too. Along with your father.”

Itachi was told not to reveal his emotion when he was undertaking a mission. Be that as it may, he still found it slightly difficult not to involve his moral sense. Even with the vast amount of Ryō the Hokage had offered to, he was never obsessed with the reward to begin with, that being so, his intuition took his mind over on numeral occasions.

“It’s getting dark,” the 30-something woman reminded, “You two should head back home.”

“How can I meet you again, Okaa-san?” Erika inquired, expressing her obvious disappointment.

“I’ll reach out to you,” Sakuya squeezed Erika’s little shoulder gently; her hazel eyes were gazing at her daughter sadly. For a moment, she looked toward Itachi thankfully before she turned her gaze to Erika again. It took her hand longer to let go of her grip on Erika’s shoulder prior to saying her farewells, “Take care.”

Erika didn’t respond, having said that, she looked like she was holding back her tears.

* * *

The return trip had been awkwardly quiet, and neither of Itachi nor Erika bothered to break the ice. They leaped from one branch to another branch as fast as their legs could carry, with Erika leading the way and Itachi coming behind. Itachi decided not to follow her under cover this time, seeing that he was caught again, for the second time. How amateurish of him. His mind was in the anticipation of how he would explain to Kiyoshi that he had made the same mistake twice and even mistaken his wife for another missing-nin. Come to think of it, would the commander pull a few strings not to get his missing-nin wife killed?

Itachi caught up with Erika as he realized she had abruptly stopped his move. “What’s wrong?” Inquired him just when he stood next to her.

“Why did my father give this kind of task to you?”

He knew Erika would ask him sooner or later. “Because your father had doubts about my competence, that’s why he entrusted me with this duty, which he considered trouble-free, as my first mission.”

Erika gave the appearance of being disheartened—half startled, but she pretended not to, causing Itachi to secretly wish he could take back what he had said.

“I have a proposal,” she suggested. “What about you stop trailing behind me? I’ll pretend that you haven’t committed an error. I won’t tell my father about what happened today and everything we’ve arranged, if you agree with me. I’ll stay away from danger so that you won’t have to come out of nowhere like you did previously. You can also speak anything of me to my father. You can even make a false report that I haven’t been doing my responsibility—it’s up to you. I only ask you two things in return. Stop following me and don’t tell my father about my meeting with my mother earlier.”

Itachi would only be lying if he said the offer was not tempting. He had been quite weary with this long-term mission, and conjecturing how much longer Kiyoshi would give him a more challenging mission than his first. If he were to play along with Erika’s scheme, he could catch up on his family at home. He missed his family. Ever since he joined the ANBU, he rarely spent his time at home, only came back to rest his body for a bit, and then he had to wake up with the chickens the next morning. Even Erika had assured him that the commander wouldn’t know, so would his father. She also guaranteed he wouldn’t lose his job, getting promoted even. All he had to do was to renounce what he had been ordered to.

Hyūga Erika had made Uchiha Itachi break another rule.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! thank you for reading held in the sky. i introduced another oc which is erika's mother. so she's a missing nin while her husband is the anbu commander. i always have the preference to match incompatible things hoho stay tuned for more chapters! also don't forget to leave a comment :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, there. This is my first time posting a fanfic here. Hope you'll like it!


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